


one word; you

by Antarktica



Series: Run [2]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 15:27:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14428530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antarktica/pseuds/Antarktica
Summary: "It just is, Elliot."





	one word; you

            The first time she saw him, he had bloodied knuckles. She heard herself chuckling and thinking to herself, _this is my new partner_. She had heard he had quite a reputation. But she was new, a rookie, so all she could do was hand him towels, for the blood, for his knuckles, for his unadulterated anger. Though she may be one, she certainly felt a level of odd connection at the immediate meeting of their presence, their paths, their eyes.

            Brown and blue. His eyes were honest with the intensity just grumbling beneath it. It threatened anyone who’d come to peek. Frightened anyone who’d dare come close. He was just _like her._ But hers were more formidable, more walls than he could ever imagine. Elliot’s honesty makes him play his cards close to his where his heart is, though no matter how much he’d hide it, he always shows himself. That much she made out in those moments.

            He’d look surprised then and thanked her. He thought she was patronizing him. Olivia just did what she thought she could do. Support. And she was still testing the waters. Surprisingly, she was good at it as much as she was good at running.

            All these time, all she’d done was to run. But perhaps, if she ran to him, if her running was to go cross paths with him, perhaps it’ll be fine. Like how it was fine for her to laugh and grin within five minutes of interacting with him. He smiled at her too. She thought it was nice.

            He was nice.

            Cragen had warned her of his temper, how she should handle him the best she could. She was his handler and she wished he hadn’t felt so threatened by her. Perhaps he thought she’ll keep him on a leash. She never could. Olivia could never keep someone on a leash because she was always leaving. Always ready to run away. When she leaves, she must make peace with herself that everyone has moved on. She has always made peace they moved on without her and that’s how things should be.

            She’s sitting on her desk, absentmindedly twirling the pen she had between her fingers, ignoring the fact Elliot was staring into space. At her direction. She could feel it. He’d better stop doing that or she might just snap.

            He did first. “ _You._ ” He blurted out. She was confused now, furrowing her eyebrows together as if asking _What?_

            “Why are you looking at me like that?”

            _Has he gotten out of his mind?_  “I’m not looking at you like _anything._ ” God forbid she was looking at him all heart-eyes because she’ll never forgive herself for that. He was married, for goodness sake! “I wasn’t even looking at you, you were the one looking at me.”

            “No, not right now. Every time you think I’m about to blurt out something wrong, you anticipate it. How do you do that?” They’d only been partners for a year now. And perhaps it was freaking Elliot out how Olivia seems to be the only one who knows him from inside out. It freaked out Olivia too, it was not that long before he figured out she was shagging Cassidy. He didn’t even ask, he just _knew._ So, she’ll give him the same answer.

            “I just do.”

            _Bullshit_. She almost heard Elliot say between the lines of his shrug and the relaxing of his shoulders. She feels like running again. It’s like adrenaline rushing through her body, the urge to run always tries to control her, get the upper hand. This discussion is way too close to her, to her heart. To her feelings.

            “ _It just is, Elliot._ ” Olivia says, attempting to just close the book there. Let it end there. Pick up the thoughts between careful words later. And she knows he’s reluctant to accept it, but he does anyway.


End file.
